And the Award Goes To...

Ok...I'm a big giant geek when it comes to blogging and I'm in that really frantic "honeymoon phase" where getting a few followers, having my blog "viewed" and having people respond really gets my heart racing.

Special thanks to Cassandra over at Adventures in Room 5 and Emily at I Love My Classroom  for nominating me for not one, but TWO awards!  I only hope I can live up to her expectations!  I'm so thankful for all of those really great, super-creative teachers out there who have graciously allowed me to be their guest and shared amazing ideas.  In the perfect world, every colleague does this...but, we all know, this isn't always the case.

Here are the rules for The Versatile Blogger Award as I understand them:


1. Thank the blogger who nominated you. 
2. Include a link to their site.
3. Include the award image in your post.
4. Give 7 random facts about yourself. 
5. Nominate 15 other bloggers for the award. 
6. When nominating, include a link to their site.
7. Let other bloggers know they have been nominated.


So...I've done the first 3.  Now here are the 7 random facts about myself:


1.  I happily married to my very best friend and soulmate.  He is a superintendent of a small school district that I DO NOT teach in.  He's working on his dissertation and he is my inspiration.  
2.  I just had a really tough time spelling "superintendent" and had to go back and spell check 5 times!
3.  My 6th grade son is my inspiration for being the absolute best teacher I can possibly be!  A really wise principal once told me (pre-kids) that I should teach the way I would want my own child to be taught!
4.  I'm a National Board Certified Teacher (Middle Childhood Generalist).  This was the hardest thing I have ever done as an educator, but I was privileged to work alongside two of my best friends while we all worked towards this achievement.
5.  I can't curl my tongue...much to my disappointment.
6.  I use exclamation points and elipses (...) in my writing way too often!
7.  I still secretly wish that I had the "mall bangs" of my 80s self!


Now...to nominate 15 other bloggers for this award...


There are so many great blogs out there, and so many people who have already received these awards that I don't think I can hit the 15 mark.  I'll just nominate a few blogs that I have really had the chance to look over and fall in love with:


Confessions of a Teaching Junkie
Flamingo Fabulous in Second Grade
Teaching With Pencils & Polka-Dots

The second really sweet award...again, thanks Cassandra at Adventures in Room 5 for this nice little honor:

The Liebster Blog Award highlights those blogs with less than 200 followers.  I so want to hit this mark by the end of the summer...who knows?

My nomination for this award goes to Dixie at Teachin' Little Texans.  I'd also like to nominate Sarah at Panthers and Polka Dots.  It looks like she's just getting started and she is one crafty gal!  Megan at Pencils & Polka-Dots is also getting my nomination.

Emily at I Love My Classroom also nominated me for the One Lovely Blog award.  Thanks again for giving my blog a chance, Emily!

Don't you just love teachers?  :)

Technology Tuesday

It's Technology Tuesday and I'm sharing a great website that allows students to create a dialogue that comes to life.  Older students can create political commentary for a Social Studies class...the sky's the limit!   Xtranormal is this AMAZING site that can be used by students for free.  In order to publish a piece of work, you do have to pay, but so much can be accomplished on the free end...why would you need to do more?

They actually do have school pricing, but you might want to try this out before really taking what you have learned to the next level.

Xtranormal allows students to create dialogue and direct characters in order to build a scene that is acted out...like a mini movie.  My students really gained an appreciation for characters and setting while working with Xtranormal.

I'd highly recommend this for grades 4 and up and I see a lot of value to it at the middle school level.  With characters like Crash Test Dummies, "Hello Kitty" styled animals and Manga figures, there's something for everyone.  I am especially partial to "The Big Lebowski..."

The Basic edition is free and is a web-delivered app.  Give it a shot...you'll be amazed at how you can incorporate this into your curriculum. 

Monday Made It #3

My wonderful "Queso Grande" (principal) has a wonderful mantra that most risk-takin' maniacs I know follow:  "Get out there and do it...and then ask for forgiveness later!"

Well...in the wonderful world of teaching, we are bombarded with all sorts of really terrific ideas...so many good ideas, in fact, that after a while, they all blend together and sources become muddled or forgotten.

It is never my intention to hurt another person by "stealing and profiting" off of their great ideas, but, as teachers, we do tend to run with somebody's wonderful thinking and turn it into something that suits us best.

So...just like my Queso Grande...I'm running with an idea and then asking for forgiveness later!  I've seen something like this before, so I certainly don't own this.  I just tweaked it to make it work for me.

I'm tipping my hat to those who have developed this idea and posted it...I had fun and have TWO Monday Made It's to share!

Monday Made It...Flotsam and Jetsam Bags

I've seen a ton of "story bags" and the like out there...

From these humble beginnings, Flotsam and Jetsam Bags were born!  The idea is pretty simple:  purchase cheap-o pencil bags (I picked these up at Dollar Tree, but with the start of Back-to-School sales looming on the horizon, there will be plenty of opportunities to score your own) and fill them with rice, beads, beans, or whatever filler you have laying around.

I'm partial to colored rice.  Again...pick up rice in bulk or buy the 1lb. bags at Dollar Tree and you are already halfway there!

Never colored your own rice?  It's pretty easy.  Just follow these easy steps:

1.  Place the rice you wish to color in a bowl.
2.  Completely submerge rice by covering with rubbing alcohol (Dollar Tree).
3.  Add a few drops of food coloring GEL or PASTE.  Plain old food coloring does not work well with this.  Gently mix to disperse the coloring throughout the rubbing alcohol.
4.  Let rice sit in coloring for an hour or so.
5.  When rice has the desired color, pour out the alcohol/coloring mix and put rice in an even, shallow layer on a foil lined cookie sheet.
6.  Let rice air dry for about 24 hours...do not bake!

I like to make large batches of multiple colors every time I color rice.  The whole house smells like a clinic, so I try not to subject the fam to this too often!

Once you have added the filler (the flotsam) add the jetsam.  Jetsam is really whatever you can find around the house.  This is the perfect opportunity to clear the toy box of all the "little stuff" like figurines, party favors and tiny Happy Meal toys that you find yourself stepping on and swearing at...

I found that liberating my home of these tiny terrors was quite satisfying!

Once the flotsam and jetsam has been added, seal the bag and hot glue it shut.  I added a fun little tag on the zipper pull and...

Now I have these four terrific little Flotsam and Jetsam Bags!

(They actually remind me a lot of the "Find It" tubes that you pay about $20 for!)

I plan to use these as a center for story writing...but they could be used for much more!  Common Core Standards love communication, so for younger students, they could also be used for a student to tell a story with mini props that are safely sealed in the Flotsam and Jetsam Bags.

I'm sure you could find plenty of uses for them!  I'd love to hear how you use these!

Monday Made It:  Magic Cubes

Again...I love the Dollar Tree for picking up the "ingredients" for cheap-o classroom center supplies.  They have an excellent teacher resource page that you need to check out!

One of my student's favorite educational toys in our problem solving basket is the Rubik's Cube.  The Dollar Tree version is called the Magic Cube and they usually have a ton of these babies on hand.

I've made these with math facts on them...just mix them up and have the kids solve them...it isn't as easy as it looks but they really do spend a lot of time thinking while solving the cube!

My newest cube involves prefixes and suffixes:

I am including a short spreadsheet for recording findings if you are someone who really likes paper accountability.  I would recommend laminating these and including some Vis-a-Vis for recording versus killing trees.

Prefixes and Suffixes Magic Cube Spreadsheet

These are really cheap and easy to make, so remember...SHARING IS CARING!  I've already made a set for "the Wonderful Linda."  How 'bout you?  Who can you share this with?

Also...these are the words that are included in on this cube:  unhealthy, prevention, embankment, unsinkable, preheated, telescopic, untruthful, previewing, understanding, unreadable, incompleted, unspeakable, unstoppable, precooked, delightful, ongoing, disloyalty, inconsiderate.

I do have addition, subtraction, and multiplication cubes that have worked out really well.  (I'm still thinking on the division!)

Have fun and make something great today!

One Lovely Blog Award

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU to the wonderful Brandi over at Success in Second Grade for this sweet honor!

In keeping with the spirit of this award, I'm passing it on to the following blogs:

Tales of a Fourth Grade Teacher

The Great Fourth Grade Experiment

Language Arts Room 22

Check these out!  You won't be disappointed!

Currently...July (Holy Cow!)

Great Giveaway

The "World's Greatest Pencil Sharpener Giveaway" is just a click away at Elizabeth's Fun in 4B.

Why not go on over and check it out?

Fabulous Find Friday Linky

I'm linking up with Elizabeth over at Fun in 4B and her Fabulous Find Friday.  I'm with so many of you...finding that "special" pencil sharpener is a really big deal and Elizabeth's looks AMAZING!  (Subliminally that means...please, please, please let me win!)

There are so many things that I have found along the way that make my little ol' teacher heart go pitter pat...but the one item that I just can't live without is...my iPad!  Unoriginal as this may be, it is this little piece of technology that I take everywhere with me.

So...I'm going to take this down a little farther to a particular app that I have loved using...my students have thought it rocked...and, at a recent conference, even the keynote speaker sang the praises of this FREE app.

Sushi Monster is just such a find and is so much fun to play, it even has me hooked!  Being that my students struggle mightily with basic math facts, Sushi Monster is the app that helps reinforce those facts...and, did I say, it is so much fun!

Click here to find out more about this app!